Bridge on Soprano

[Island Jim]

I'm building my first soprano, mahogany body and neck. I'm about to make a slot bridge for it and wonder about using a denser wood than mahogany for the bridge to prolong the life of the slots. I have some bolivian rosewood or east indian rosewood that would look good on the mahogany top, but I wonder if the denser wood would restrict the top too much. Do any of you soprano builders have an opinion on using a harder wood?

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

I’m no Luthier but per this post by @mineymole earlier today, I think you’re on the right track.
Thread 'Fix bridge on Timms Ukulele'
https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/threads/fix-bridge-on-timms-ukulele.159974/

 

[EDW]

I also am no luthier, but a somewhat denser wood may be a good solution. Another option is a string through the top style.

 

[hoji]

I think it comes down to mass, i.e. weight. Lower is better. Obviously you want durability (hardness), too, so that's the tradeoff. I've been using either mahogany or cherry. With the mahogany, I have had to harden the insides of the slots with thin ca glue on occasion. That might be something to consider.

 

[Island Jim]

Thanks for the help, I like the idea of CA glue for hardening the slots.

 

[sequoia]

You want hard you go with ebony, an accepted wood for bridges. I do not like working with ebony personally. Tough on tools, but it can have its own beauty.... The CA idea is a good one. Never thought of that. All that being said, I have never seen excessive wear on my rosewood tie bridges, but time will tell. Rosewood is certainly harder than mahogany. I would go with rosewood.

 

[Pegasus Guitars]

There are a few reasons uke slotted bridges get dinged up. There are a zillion soprano ukes with those types of bridges in Hawaii, so slot damage is a common issue. One reason is that is the slots were not cut wide enough to begin with. Some makers cut the slots just wide enough to barely take an average string diameter and they cut all the slots the same width. If the wood expands a little from moisture, the string jams in the slot and pieces of wood break off when you try to remove the old strings. A second reason, with bridges that have countersunk holes from the back, those holes are not sized to fit the knotted string. Again, wood chips off when trying to remove the string. A third issue occurs with bridges that have a clesrance ledge under the back of the bridge. Again, if not eough clearance is left under the ledge, the strings can jam. Most Hawaiian ukes have soft koa bridges, and if made correctly they do just fine. iMO hardwoods like ebony have a negative effect on the tone of a soprano.

 

[John Colter]

That kind of damage is caused when removing the string. Pulling it out of the slot by gripping the length of the string seems the obvious way to do it, but that causes the knot to rotate 180 degrees. It is a far less damaging process if you deliberately leave a short tail on the knot and use that, with a pair of pliers, to draw the knot out backwards.

 

[Timbuck]

 

[MarTay6]

Love your videos!

 

[Mfturner]

This is interesting, the slotted bridge on my 60 year old Harmony appears to be built out of poplar like the neck. But if anything its slots (including the sawn kerf from underneath for the knots) are cut loose with lots of room for the string. Also, the ukulele sat in a closet for much of its life so maybe that’s more important. So I’ll keep an eye on it, maybe some CA glue would be good reinforcement.

 

[Island Jim]

I ended up making a tie bar bridge for my soprano. I guess I'm used to classical guitars and tenor ukes but I just didn't care for the looks of the slot bridges I made for it. The tie bridge is made out of rosewood and weighs a couple of grams more than the slot bridges, but the finished uke came in at 340 grams so in the middle ground for a soprano. I'm really enjoying playing it, I see what the appeal is now!